I think she sounds pretty good. I've watched the Chie story up to her 2nd fight and it only took a few minutes before I forgot that she isn't the original VO. The only part that sounded un-Chie was when she greeted Yu/Charlie for the first time. Other than that it all sounds good.

Alright, so uh. Some of you may have seen this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-TfJ9c-m1E If not, go watch and then read on.What you see in this video is captured from an SNES copy of Shin Megami Tensei 1. The person recording the video repeatedly pressed reset, and at the end, instead of replaying the usual opening bit of the Atlus logo, red text flashed up on the screen repeating over and over. The text reads ‘Turn Off Immediately’ or ‘Delete Immediately’, but doesn't say whether it means the game or you. Creepy, yeah? Supposedly this creepy little easter egg existed only on the very first run of the SNES copy, but there’s very little information out there about it, and some people pinned it as a hoax.Flash forward to today. People who turned on their copies of Persona 4 Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena found this waiting for them:

Edit: lots of stuff in this video, and this guy's channel in general, however

After watching roughly half of the story mode in an english live stream, i have to holy shit at the amount of text. It's absolutely not a bad thing at all because you get to hear what each characters thoughts on this situation is.

The joke paths are kinda funny but it seems more like something arc sytem works wanted to do rather than atlus.

I felt really nostalgic whenever persona 3 music started playing. Interesting to know Mitsuru and Akihiko don't need their evokers to summon their personas. Seeing the picture of the shadow operatives makes me kind of hope that the next persona game might get into it more.I still have no idea why Elizabeth is there yet but i have not read anything about her story either.

Interesting to know Mitsuru and Akihiko don't need their evokers to summon their personas.

My personal theory has always been that it's easier to summon personas in the Midnight Channel and so you don't need them. After all, Personas can be summoned in the Dark Hour without an Evoker, it's just more difficult.

Interesting to know Mitsuru and Akihiko don't need their evokers to summon their personas.

My personal theory has always been that it's easier to summon personas in the Midnight Channel and so you don't need them. After all, Personas can be summoned in the Dark Hour without an Evoker, it's just more difficult.

Your theory turned out to be correct.They say as much in the story mode.

They also confirm that evokers let them summon Persona outside of the dark hour

@Bocam:

Do you know if its true that the current game doesn't progress past 99% completed in story mode? Same thing happened in the play-through I watched.

I just found and watched a bunch of English Story Mode videos in a deep corner of the internet. I think the streamer covered just about every one, except for a large chunk of Yu's/Charlie's (which I was pretty sad about since his was the one I was most interested in).

Enjoyed the story, but I've seen some people that have mentioned some kind of important revelation that predates the modern Persona games that I seem to have missed, and I've gotten all of the story chapter trophies. Things I've found of note:

Mitsuru Kirijo is member #1 of that Shadow group thing. Labrys is member #5. Akihiko's one of the group's founding members, even though he's said to be active in a part-time capacity, so I assume he's #2. Fuuka's not part of the group. #3 and #4 are people who are more "important" in the group than Aigis; probably people that we know of.

Someone contacted Labrys internally when she was captured after escaping the scientists, which is when she had a vision of Yasogami and the Investigation Team for the first time. First thing I thought of was "Philemon", and I'm not sure why because I'm not even sure who he is or what his role was in previous Persona games.

I'm not sure what Elizabeth was so stunned by when Narukami unlocked the power from his bonds. Might have just been Izanagi-no-Okami again.

And what's that about the unknown entity potentially being linked to Persona 2?

Also, I wonder if we actually will ever see the Persona 3 protagonist again. At least Liz's goal and reason for leaving the Velvet Room are totally detailed, now.

Enjoyed the story, but I've seen some people that have mentioned some kind of important revelation that predates the modern Persona games that I seem to have missed, and I've gotten all of the story chapter trophies. Things I've found of note:

Mitsuru Kirijo is member #1 of that Shadow group thing. Labrys is member #5. Akihiko's one of the group's founding members, even though he's said to be active in a part-time capacity, so I assume he's #2. Fuuka's not part of the group. #3 and #4 are people who are more "important" in the group than Aigis; probably people that we know of.

Someone contacted Labrys internally when she was captured after escaping the scientists, which is when she had a vision of Yasogami and the Investigation Team for the first time. First thing I thought of was "Philemon", and I'm not sure why because I'm not even sure who he is or what his role was in previous Persona games.

I'm not sure what Elizabeth was so stunned by when Narukami unlocked the power from his bonds. Might have just been Izanagi-no-Okami again.

And what's that about the unknown entity potentially being linked to Persona 2?

Also, I wonder if we actually will ever see the Persona 3 protagonist again. At least Liz's goal and reason for leaving the Velvet Room are totally detailed, now.

I think I get what Philemon is all about as his main goal was to recruit shadows from each of the people in the P4A tournament. I'd love for someone that played P2 and knows more about the entity to help explain it better. It seems clear that there'll be a game that helps resolve this issue with both P3 and P4 characters. My dream persona game seems realer than ever! Investigation team with the Shadow Op would be insane fan service.

Enjoyed the story, but I've seen some people that have mentioned some kind of important revelation that predates the modern Persona games that I seem to have missed, and I've gotten all of the story chapter trophies. Things I've found of note:

Mitsuru Kirijo is member #1 of that Shadow group thing. Labrys is member #5. Akihiko's one of the group's founding members, even though he's said to be active in a part-time capacity, so I assume he's #2. Fuuka's not part of the group. #3 and #4 are people who are more "important" in the group than Aigis; probably people that we know of.

I think they mention that Akihiko's standing in the group is "way lower" than MItsuru's.

Enjoyed the story, but I've seen some people that have mentioned some kind of important revelation that predates the modern Persona games that I seem to have missed, and I've gotten all of the story chapter trophies. Things I've found of note:

Someone contacted Labrys internally when she was captured after escaping the scientists, which is when she had a vision of Yasogami and the Investigation Team for the first time. First thing I thought of was "Philemon", and I'm not sure why because I'm not even sure who he is or what his role was in previous Persona games.

And what's that about the unknown entity potentially being linked to Persona 2?

All these 3 separate things are closely related(well, your philemon guess is completely off-base!). Do you care if I spoil P1/2? I can explain all 3 of those things if you want.

I think they mention that Akihiko's standing in the group is "way lower" than MItsuru's.

Really? I must have forgotten/missed that part.

@mutha3 said:

All these 3 separate things are closely related(well, your philemon guess is completely off-base!). Do you care if I spoil P1/2? I can explain all 3 of those things if you want.

Hm, thinking about it now, I actually do mind. Bought all of the portable Persona games during last month's Atlus sale, so I'll play them eventually and understand the connections people are talking about.

@FluxWaveZ: Cool. P1 is kind of a huge slog, though, even compared to P2 and the pay-off isn't that great. If you don't feel like playing it anymore, you can safely move on to the P2 series and it will fill in the blanks, eventually.

Someone contacted Labrys internally when she was captured after escaping the scientists, which is when she had a vision of Yasogami and the Investigation Team for the first time. First thing I thought of was "Philemon", and I'm not sure why because I'm not even sure who he is or what his role was in previous Persona games.

Wait... I think I was correct when I thought that the person who contacted Labrys was Philemon. What Labrys sees in the 2-2 classroom, learning about Yasogami High and the Investigation Team at the same time, is through the butterfly save point in that same classroom. It also sounded like Philemon from what I played of Persona 1, which is why I thought of him in the first place.

Someone contacted Labrys internally when she was captured after escaping the scientists, which is when she had a vision of Yasogami and the Investigation Team for the first time. First thing I thought of was "Philemon", and I'm not sure why because I'm not even sure who he is or what his role was in previous Persona games.

Wait... I think I was correct when I thought that the person who contacted Labrys was Philemon. What Labrys sees in the 2-2 classroom, learning about Yasogami High and the Investigation Team at the same time, is through the butterfly save point in that same classroom. It also sounded like Philemon from what I played of Persona 1, which is why I thought of him in the first place.

The same voice actor portrays someone entirely different and far more sinister in Persona 2. Also, why would Philemon set Labrys up by imparting her with those memories? They were given to her so that her Shadow would draw the Investigation Team into the TV world with the fighting tournament.

The same voice actor portrays someone entirely different and far more sinister in Persona 2. Also, why would Philemon set Labrys up by imparting her with those memories? They were given to her so that her Shadow would draw the Investigation Team into the TV world with the fighting tournament.

Yeah, I guess it makes more sense if the same person who orchestrated everything is also the one who gave the information to Labrys. Someone had just made a comment to the contrary somewhere else and it got me thinking back on my previous assumption.

@FLStyle: Not necessarily. While Nyarlathotep may turn out to be the Malevolent Entity, there are a couple of possible suspects for the Eerie Voice. Edogawa is one, assuming that truly is a younger Edogawa in Labrys's story mode, but I'd also argue that Officer Bowl Cut from Naoto and Mitsuru's storylines is another suspect, though a more remote one. But there's nothing that solidly pins either to being the identity of the Eerie Voice other than somehow gaining access to tech that allowed them to take control of Labrys.

@Hailinel: I did think it was a bit weird to introduce that Public Security guy and then have no pay-off regarding him in the end.

I think he'll definitely have a role to play in Persona 5. From my view, they gave him too much screen time even in his limited role to simply be brushed aside. Whether or not he's the Eerie Voice, he's most likely going to show up in some capacity.

What I'm really curious about, however, is how they'll handle Igor in Persona 5. His Japanese voice actor died after voicing Persona 4, and what little lines he had in Persona 4 Arena were just recycled from P4. It makes me wonder if they're going to end up recasting the part for another actor or if they might be bold and write Igor out of the story somehow.

I'm not saying it would be a good decision. Hopefully they can find a good match for his voice.

Agreed. I guess there is precedent for the removal of characters from a storyline once the Japanese voice actor passes (Liquid Snake?) but as someone who is more interested in Persona for its Jungian terminology (not to sound like an asshole, it's not like it's that deep or anything) and persona roster over its anime antics, I hope that idea isn't even on the table. I already really dislike how Elizabeth is now more than just an element of the mind with a dictionary of personality types. But she's like that for the same reason Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc Pit: fans!

I think if it had a real focus on the human psyche and its projections (like the first game, only better), Persona would be by far the strongest and most meaningful implementation of mythology in the series. Maybe there's room for a spin-off of a spin-off.

I'm not saying it would be a good decision. Hopefully they can find a good match for his voice.

Agreed. I guess there is precedent for the removal of characters from a storyline once the Japanese voice actor passes (Liquid Snake?) but as someone who is more interested in Persona for its Jungian terminology (not to sound like an asshole, it's not like it's that deep or anything) and persona roster over its anime antics, I hope that idea isn't even on the table. I already really dislike how Elizabeth is now more than just an element of the mind with a dictionary of personality types. But she's like that for the same reason Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc Pit: fans!

I think if it had a real focus on the human psyche and its projections (like the first game, only better), Persona would be by far the strongest and most meaningful implementation of mythology in the series. Maybe there's room for a spin-off of a spin-off.

Wait, if if... is a spin-off of SMT, and Persona is a spin-off of if..., then, wouldn't that make a spin-off of Persona a spin-off of a spin-off of a spin-off?

Wait, if if... is a spin-off of SMT, and Persona is a spin-off of if..., then, wouldn't that make a spin-off of Persona a spin-off of a spin-off of a spin-off?

I was curious about this, so I dug around. Though I guess it is a spin-off of some sort, Japanese sites don't necessarily classify it as such? I think? It's considered in the main series, just as a non-numbered entry, like Strange Journey or NINE.

And Japanese SMT fans are....well, let's just say that they're kind of embarrassing, not to mention any type of "entitled" fanbase doesn't really do anyone any good.

Wait, if if... is a spin-off of SMT, and Persona is a spin-off of if..., then, wouldn't that make a spin-off of Persona a spin-off of a spin-off of a spin-off?

I was curious about this, so I dug around. Though I guess it is a spin-off of some sort, Japanese sites don't necessarily classify it as such? I think? It's considered in the main series, just as a non-numbered entry, like Strange Journey or NINE.

And Japanese SMT fans are....well, let's just say that they're kind of embarrassing, not to mention any type of "entitled" fanbase doesn't really do anyone any good.

Agreed. I guess there is precedent for the removal of characters from a storyline once the Japanese voice actor passes (Liquid Snake?)

Yeah that comparison doesn't work, Liquid Snake's Japanese VA, Banjō Ginga, is alive and well. I believe you were thinking of Revolver Ocelot's Japanese VA, Kōji Totani, who died in 2006. So in the case of the Japanese release they had to use the Liquid VA to voice Liquid Ocelot (even though in the story it's revealed that Liquid's soul lost the ability to take over Ocelot before MGS4 when Ocelot got rid of Liquid's arm).

@FLStyle: Yep, it was Ocelot, not Liquid. I knew it was one of them. :p

@mutha3 said:

Oooohhh, do tell.

It's best left unsaid. But I will say that in my quest to fill Giant Bomb's coffers with quality SMT content, I've seen things I wish I hadn't. Predictable things. Over and over again. (and it's not just horrible porn, though that counts for a lot)

@FLStyle: Yep, it was Ocelot, not Liquid. I knew it was one of them. :p

@mutha3 said:

Oooohhh, do tell.

It's best left unsaid. But I will say that in my quest to fill Giant Bomb's coffers with quality SMT content, I've seen things I wish I hadn't. Predictable things. Over and over again. (and it's not just horrible porn, though that counts for a lot)

I actually haven't met any in person, and I kind of doubt I will!

That goes for a lot of fandoms, really. The most obsessive, embarrassing fans of anything do tend to congregate in odd corners of the internet.

And as for character retirement, the same sort of thing might be happening in Tekken. The voice of Heihachi died after Tekken 6, which is why Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 3D Prime Edition both feature "young" Heihachi on the roster. I have no idea what they plan to do for Tekken 7, though.

@FLStyle: Yep, it was Ocelot, not Liquid. I knew it was one of them. :p

@mutha3 said:

Oooohhh, do tell.

It's best left unsaid. But I will say that in my quest to fill Giant Bomb's coffers with quality SMT content, I've seen things I wish I hadn't. Predictable things. Over and over again. (and it's not just horrible porn, though that counts for a lot)

I actually haven't met any in person, and I kind of doubt I will!

That goes for a lot of fandoms, really. The most obsessive, embarrassing fans of anything do tend to congregate in odd corners of the internet.

And as for character retirement, the same sort of thing might be happening in Tekken. The voice of Heihachi died after Tekken 6, which is why Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 3D Prime Edition both feature "young" Heihachi on the roster. I have no idea what they plan to do for Tekken 7, though.

Hm, that might be a solution for the igor dilemma:

Give 'im a toupee, call him "Bizzare faced young man" when he first appears, and we're set.

@FLStyle: Yep, it was Ocelot, not Liquid. I knew it was one of them. :p

@mutha3 said:

Oooohhh, do tell.

It's best left unsaid. But I will say that in my quest to fill Giant Bomb's coffers with quality SMT content, I've seen things I wish I hadn't. Predictable things. Over and over again. (and it's not just horrible porn, though that counts for a lot)

I actually haven't met any in person, and I kind of doubt I will!

That goes for a lot of fandoms, really. The most obsessive, embarrassing fans of anything do tend to congregate in odd corners of the internet.

And as for character retirement, the same sort of thing might be happening in Tekken. The voice of Heihachi died after Tekken 6, which is why Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 3D Prime Edition both feature "young" Heihachi on the roster. I have no idea what they plan to do for Tekken 7, though.

Hm, that might be a solution for the igor dilemma: Give 'im a toupee, call him "Bizzare faced young man" when he first appears, and we're set.

I'm with @Animasta, Philemon's return would be perfect for P5 if the guesses about Nyarlathotep being the P4A/P5 main villain are correct.